Rep. Mike Collins and former football coach Derek Dooley are projected to advance to a runoff in Georgia’s Republican contest to choose who will face Sen. Jon Ossoff in a key bellwether Senate race.
Georgia’s Senate race is one of a handful of competitive races in the country this year, and the contest is expected to be one of the most expensive. It’s a critical opportunity for Republicans to flip a seat, yet the party does not yet have a consensus on its candidate.
President Donald Trump stayed neutral during the primary, but Dooley, a newcomer to politics, landed the backing of Georgia’s popular governor, Brian Kemp. The governor declined to make a run of his own, and he strongly pushed for Dooley, frustrating the Trump political operation. In recent weeks, Kemp joined Dooley at campaign stops and helped him fundraise — a test of his strength as a political kingmaker.
“Kemp is not only stumping for him actively, but has raised a lot of money for him, and I think has given him the ability to get on network television, as well as other outlets and sources,” said Don Bolia, a lobbyist and former executive director of the Georgia Republican Party. “That’s really putting him at a competitive advantage to get his name out there and develop some identification within Republican voters.”
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Collins, who led Tuesday’s results with roughly 40% of the vote compared to Dooley’s 30%, has campaigned steadily on his Trump-aligned record and hard-line immigration policy. He often talked about writing the Laken Riley Act, which mandates the federal detention of unauthorized immigrants who are arrested, charged with, or convicted of certain crimes.
The House Ethics Committee is reviewing Collins’ use of government funds, including allegations that he used congressional funds to pay his former chief of staff for campaign work and pay the former chief’s girlfriend for work she did not do.
Collins has strong name recognition in the state, especially among rural voters and those who remember his father, Mac Collins, who also served in Congress. Dooley has made a case for himself among voters attracted to political outsiders.
“You’ve got a group of voters that want somebody that’s had political experience, and that’s fine,” said Mary Clarice Hathaway, chair of the Cobb County GOP, which is staying neutral in the primary. “But I think you also have a group of voters that still, in some ways, feel disenfranchised, and they still like the idea of a political outsider.”
The Republican who survives the primary will face a tough contest against Ossoff, a rising star in the Democratic Party who has accumulated a massive war chest and already won statewide once. His campaign had $32.5 million cash on hand at the end of April, according to his pre-primary FEC report. Collins and Dooley both had about $1.6 million.
Georgia is considered a must-win for both Republicans and Democrats in determining which party will control the Senate. Cook Political Report moved the race in Democrats’ favor in April, changing its rating from “Toss Up” to “Lean Democrat.”
The runoff is scheduled for June 16.
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